This invention relates to the field of electronic communications. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for establishing a combined authenticated and encrypted communication connection between two devices with minimal round-trip handshaking.
As the use of mobile communication platforms continues to grow, users operate more and more applications that require creation and maintenance of separate communication connections. Each application may require a separate connection with a different server or service. With so many connections being created, possibly each time the user opens an application, it becomes noticeable if establishment of a connection for a particular application is slow and his or her use of the application is delayed.
Traditional methods of reliably authenticating a user and establishing a secure communication connection can require many round-trip communications between a user's device and a server. This may be acceptable in a traditional computing environment (e.g., with desktop or other stationary computing devices having wired connections), but is unacceptable in a mobile environment (e.g., with smart phones and portable computing devices having wireless connections) and can markedly delay a user's connection. To speed their connections, some applications forego encryption and/or reliable authentication, but this leaves their users vulnerable to data theft, spoofing and/or other cyber assaults.